


Caffeine is a Wish Your Heart Makes

by Gravityoverthegarden



Category: Kingdom Keepers - Ridley Pearson
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Youtubers, Barista Finn Whitman, Dillard Cole Lives, Finn and Philby are YouTubers, Finn is a film major, Kingdom Keepers never occurred, M/M, Not Beta Read, Philby is a game development major, i just wanted them to be together, mentioned relationships have literally no effect on the plot, there's like three curse words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:49:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21949114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gravityoverthegarden/pseuds/Gravityoverthegarden
Summary: Finn Whitman works as the graveyard shift barista at the Caffeine is a Wish Your Heart Makes cafe while being a full-time student and a small-time YouTuber. Philby is a big-time Youtuber and full-time student who spends the early hours of the morning at the cafe whilst drinking an ungodly amount of espresso.
Relationships: Dell Philby/Finn Whitman
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Caffeine is a Wish Your Heart Makes

**Author's Note:**

> Full Sail University is a real university and the only one I know some stuff about. It's also in Orlando, so it felt easy to write, even though the Kingdom Keepers never existed/occurred. Also, I wrote this for 2 reasons: 1) I was bored, and 2) there's no Phinby content in this pretty much dead fandom and I must be the change I want to see in the world. A side note - there are essentially no AUs for KK and I find that absolutely mind-boggling that we as a fandom decided that we'd stick to canon rather than branch out.

Finn found himself working the graveyard shift at Caffeine is a Dream Your Heart Makes, a twenty-four-hour café, more often than not. He curses the absolute horror that is the film major's schedule that forces him to work the two to nine am shifts. Sometimes Finn gets three to four hours of sleep; sometimes, he gets a whole six hours; and sometimes his shift is moved to more sane hours, depending on what time his classes are that month. Although, it's more likely that he gets the worst possible shift available because student life is just like that sometimes.

His mom doesn’t like that he's working during college but Finn made it three months into his twenty-month film program before he gave in and applied for one of the few jobs that have flexible enough hours for a nontraditional college student and also wouldn't fire him for being late or even missing his entire shift because of a lab went long. It's not horrible - although he doesn't recommend it, but he's been doing it for eight months, and he hasn't died yet.

The only good thing about working the graveyard shift is that it’s nearly almost entirely dead aside from one or two students, and Finn can work on his homework and projects with a steady flow of caffeine. Also, somehow the most attractive customers tend to come in during his shift, and he's, somehow, became friends with most of them.

Such as the two digital arts majors who always pushed two tables together because they never want to sit in the middle of a pretty much empty café; one of them - Jess - switches out her hair color every month, and it's a nice surprise whenever she walks in with pink and blue split-dyed hair after having platinum blond for a couple of weeks. Finn likes her platinum hair - it makes her look mysterious; she's also his favorite type of three am customer because she's not talkative in the slightest. The other one - Maybeck - is tall and built like an Olympic sprinter and is neverendingly grumpy and sarcastic, which Finn found that he's also like that during the day when Finn worked a rare normal hour shift. Finn's had some semi-serious thoughts of making Maybeck shut up by smashing his face into his because, frankly, someone that obnoxious should not be attractive, but Finn knows Maybeck has a girlfriend who moved out to Los Angeles to pursue acting, and Finn's not a homewrecker. Finn's never seen Jess and Maybeck not together, but he knew that it's just because they started their term together and share the same classes, so they kind of just stuck together.

There's also the two girls who tend to come in together - Amanda Lockhart and Willa Angelo. Finn's also had serious thoughts about asking Amanda out; the first time she walked into the café, Finn couldn't speak properly for the first ten seconds of their interaction. Later he learned that he had no chance because one) Amanda is dating Willa, and two) she's quite gay, and not bisexual in the slightest. Amanda is one of the few customers he's befriended and talks to out of the café.

And then there's the redheaded prick - Philby - who for whatever reason takes up one of two bar seats and lives to annoy Finn as he works. Finn's not sure if it's the exhaustion that makes him be such as an obnoxious person or if he's just that obnoxious all the time, and honestly, Finn doesn't care because he doesn't want any reason to like him.

Finn sat on the barstool behind the counter after completing all of his orders and the graveyard shift's chores. He had his computer open to his video editing software and was working on the coloring of his next YouTube video. His channel's on the smaller side with around ten thousand subscribers; he's been uploading videos since the end of middle school, but he never hit viral gold or drawn the attention of a larger YouTuber, so he's never grown exponentially like some other creators on the platform.

He paused his work, surveying the store to see if there were any changes - there was one toss-up customer who chose to sit down even though they looked like all they wanted to do was go home and sleep; there were only two of his three am regulars were there. Willa, by herself, sat in her and Amanda's usual spot in the corner, and Philby, who's quiet for once, was sitting at the coffee bar; he wore giant black headphones and he was staring intently at his laptop. He preferred this; he could act like Philby didn't exist and focus on his work.

Someone loudly cleared their throat the second Finn resumed color correcting the video, and Finn realized his work was about to be thrown out the window for the next ten minutes. He shut the lid of his computer and looked up.

"Espresso refill," Philby said; his voice the kind of midnight scratchy that Finn's become accustomed to with most of his customers.

"Not a white Americano? It's half til' three; thought you'd be tired of plain espresso by now." Finn marked it on his tab as he grabbed the blue mug from next to Philby's laptop.

"I'll be here later than usual, which I'm sure you're excited about - I've got t… no, a lot of projects to work on and need to suffer longer."

"That's why you're not annoying me that much tonight?"

"Do you want me too?"

"You're actually asking for my input?"

"You're right; maybe I should commence the lecture on the computational complexity theory that I've been putting off for a while."

"I would have to ask you to leave," Finn said, leaning onto the counter and putting his head on his arms.

"Eh, I don't have an espresso machine," Philby clicked his tongue In dismissal. "I need this place to survive the night."

"Good, we'd probably go out of business if you leave now." And Finn would have abysmal tip money because most of it comes from Philby.

"Nice to know I'm a valued customer."

"All customers are valued here."

"And I thought I was special." Philby dejectedly shook his head.

"I mean you get more attention than most customers, so if you get that," Finn shrugged.

"Oh, and why would that be?"

"Because how else would I get tips? The only people who come into café during the graveyard shift spend most of their money on coffee."

Philby huffed, smirking as he feigned annoyance. "People need to start supporting young filmmakers more! How else are they going to afford to make nonsense videos on YouTube?"

"I would find that funny if I didn't actually post my group's fun projects on my YouTube channel, Finn More Whit." Finn shrugged, pretending that he wasn't plugging his channel in person to person conversation. "I get like five bucks from ad revenue, but it's five bucks that I can use for rent so I'm not complaining."

Philby opened his mouth to say something but got cut off by Jess asking for a refill on her coffee pot and whatever he meant to say was lost to time as Finn shifted into work mode. He moved on autopilot to refill both the coffee pot and Philby's espresso. He slid the mug next to the redhead's computer before bringing the pot to Jess's table.

He sat down back down behind the counter, staring at his laptop. He listened to Philby tap listlessly on his keyboard before he started typing on his keyboard, and then stopped completely to stare at his screen with a flat expression. Finn didn't think anything of it.

***

Caffeine is a Dream Your Heart Makes was nearly empty except for Amanda sitting at the coffee bar. She hadn't spoken to Finn that much since she first sat down, but in the late night/early morning hours, time just fell apart so he didn't fault her for not talking. She's only said two things to him: "Get me coffee" and "Finn, have you found the lead for our next project?" 

Finn was starting to regretting accepting to work with Amanda and Willa on a video for his YouTube channel. Amanda wrote a romantic script and Willa, his co-director, dumped the responsibility of finding a love interest on him; Finn doesn't usually work with romantic plots, but the pair convinced him that any project is a good enough project for his portfolio.

He was thinking of possible romantic leads as he edited a school project when the door opened with more vigor than anyone should have at 3:30 in the morning. Finn shut the lid of his computer, breaking out of his video editing hell. He caught the eye of Amanda, who was just packing her bag up; she looked equally bewildered as Finn felt.

"Finn! Dude! You're never going to believe this," Dillard shouted as the door slammed behind him. He was in a gamer hoodie thrown on over his pajamas and was wearing his black slippers. He rushed the counter and took Finn's laptop without another word. He furiously typed something, and Amanda decided to join them at the counter.

"What's got your gamer hoodie in a knot?" She asked, slumping over the counter and watching Dillard. "YouTube?"

"Finnegan Whitman, get on this side of the counter right this second," Dillard ignored Amanda's question.

Finn did as he was told. "Dellete?"

Dellete is a gaming YouTuber that Finn doesn't really watch except for when Dillard forces him to watch. He wasn't sure why his best friend decided to raid his place of work to make him watch a Dellete video.

The video opened to a guy in a black fabric mask that makes him look like a wannabe Zoro. He's wearing a large pair of headphones with a chunky over-ear microphone and a green sweater over a button-up shirt. Finn didn't really pay attention to the video, absently laughing when his friends laughed; it wasn't until the end when the guy's face appeared on the screen again and Finn opened his mouth to ask Dillard just why were they watching this video when the screen split into two and a familiar video started playing.

Finn's mouth dropped.

"Hey guys, I just wanted to drop back in and recommend this channel I found recently - Finn More Whit; he posts these incredible videos that are completely different from my gaming sh*t, but his editing is incredible on both his short films and simple vlogs. So, if you're in the mood for a near-professional level short film or just a guy complaining about one - go give Finn More Whit a chance."

There was probably an outro, but Dillard and Amanda were already shouting and cheering at him. He should've shushed them, but their noise level was the last thing on his mind. Finn could not comprehend how a semi-popular YouTuber found his channel; the YouTube algorithm hasn't ever really pushed any of his videos through into people's recommendations. He didn't mind the lack of attention because the attention he did get was from people who actually cared about his content, and more importantly, he felt less pressure to post more consistently. Scheduled content is the bane of his existence, and he'll never succumb to its torture. 

He tuned back into his friends' loud rambling when he registered a sort of sinister gleam in Amanda's eye: "Oh my God Finn, maybe you should ask Dellete if he wants to collab - and maybe play the lo-" Strike that Amanda is not his friend and Finn had no desire to hear her finish that sentence.

"If you don't get back to whatever you're working on, I'll kick you out of this café."

The threat worked well enough, except Amanda waggled her eyebrows at him the entire time she walked back to

"I gotta get back to the apartment and like sleep or something," Dillard said, pushing Finn's computer back across the counter.

"Probably best that you do, Dill."

***

Three days later, Finn still hasn't found a love interest for his film, but he wasn’t overly concerned about it. He had four more days until the shoot, and if push comes to shove, he'll ask Maybeck; he'd ask Jess, but she's Amanda's sister and he feels uncomfortable voluntarily putting himself into that position.

Finn's working the nightshift again and was editing a commentary video on a horrible D-list horror movie for his YouTube channel. He looked up to see if any of the three customers needed anything and didn't even try to look customer-friendly as he did so - Philby silently held out his blue coffee mug. Finn raised an eyebrow as he took the mug and, also silently, refilled it with espresso. He handed the mug back, and Philby didn't even look up at him.

Finn should probably not be concerned over the one customer who thrives to annoy him, but he was also a customer who he's been serving for the last eight months at butt o'clock in the morning. It feels weird to try to get into touchy feelings, but it's for the best - Finn's actually getting bored without the constant comments and retorts.

"Dude, you good?" He asked, trying to be cool about it and not at all concerned.

Philby glanced at him, and Finn could see the bags underneath his eyes. Sleep deprivation is a common look on college students, but these look like they were bags of holding and Finn could fit just about anything in them.

He drank some of his espresso before speaking, "Perfect." His voice was beyond midnight scratchiness - it was "I haven't slept in ' _n_ ' amount of days and have lost the ability to properly speak."

"When was the last time you slept, dude?"

Philby squinted at his laptop screen, even though he's wearing glasses. "Uh, it's the fifth, so um, Monday."

Finn's jaw dropped. "You haven't slept in four days?"

"I guess so."

"Why?"

"Because- I don’t know why; er, made like three promises and really starting to regret it because I also have to work on a project for…" Philby blinked. "Forgot what class, but I know I have a project for it."

"Why'd do you make so many promises, dude?" Finn cursed himself for adding dude to that question; he knew he shouldn't have, but it still came out of his mouth.

Philby clicked his tongue, thinking for a moment before slowly speaking, "My job."

"You have a job?"

"Yeah." Philby thrummed his fingers against his keyboard; he was still looking at Finn, but his eyes looked a thousand miles away.

"Thought you were here on a scholarship or your parents."

"Scholarship mostly, but I've been working since high school - uh, sophomore year."

"Where at?"

"YouTube."

"Really?"

"You didn't mention it when I told you about mine."

"I'm not… fond of telling people I'm frie- acquainted with for a long time about my channel."

Finn ignored the pick up in his heartbeat. "Oh, so we're friends?"

"I mean - are we not?" Philby twisted a hand through his short hair; an eyebrow cocked with the purest confusion Finn has ever seen outside of his classes. Finn isn't sure if he'd ever seen Philby look confused. Philby always knew the answer to a question or the process behind pretty much anything Finn brings up, including anything relating to film, so he never needed any additional information to clarify something he's said.

"Uh, yeah, I mean we never said we were friends, so like I didn’t want to assume anything, y'know?" Finn leaned against the counter, an awkward smile on his face as he tried to recover, but he made the mistake of glancing up from Philby and making split-second eye contact with Maybeck and then Jess - they looked… disappointed and exasperated, but so would he if he was spectating this interaction.

"Oh sure, I don’t mind… friends, that if you don't too- mind, I mean." Philby nervously scratched the back of his neck.

"I, uh, don't. Friends, sure!" Finn said way too peppily and he wanted to kick himself, but Philby smiled and relaxed somewhat and was doing some weird things to Finn's heart.

"Cool." Philby glanced down at his laptop; his face suddenly in pain. "I should really continue editing these - I batched filmed, and I also have that class project thing."

Finn paused and found his head completely empty aside from one thought: "Y'know if you still have the video files on your SD, I could help you edit them if that's okay?"

Philby blinked at him. "I- why?"

"Because that's what a friend does? They help their friends out?"

"But don't you have to work on your own video?"

"I'll always have time to work on my videos. You, on the other hand, went off and made a promise of three videos while you have to work project for a class that you can't remember; let me help, don't worry about my own time management - my audience knows to not expect a schedule from me."

"A schedule is good though," Philby tried to derail. "You should try to stick to one; your channel will get a larger audience and -"

"Philby, stop, just give me the files and let me know what you want me to do with them, because I don't know if you know this, but I kinda want to do this kinda thing for the rest of my working life." Finn gave him a pointed look. "Also running on a constant schedule is draining, take a break. It's almost winter break, take a break then."

"Why do you think I have to edit three videos now?"

Finn didn't verbally respond; he just leaned heavily against the counter and raised an eyebrow. He assumed Philby only batched filmed for the next three weeks because of winter break. He never edits over the break, unless it's for school; sometimes he films because he has an idea that just can't wait for after the break, but editing is a big no-no. Working constantly will just result in burnout, and as a student of the art of video making, burnout is his worst enemy. Philby was pushing himself too hard, and he was going to crash if he doesn't accept Finn's help.

He held out his hand. "Just give me the files."

"My audience will know if someone else edited my videos." Philby was guarding his computer like he was afraid Finn was going to steal his entire laptop.

"Then I'll make a disclaimer. I'm not gonna watch you get burnout because you made the horrible decision to stick to a schedule."

Philby made a pained face as he tapped on his laptop for a good ten minutes, which Finn watched him almost the entire time, even when he was making Philby's espresso and bringing a new pot of coffee to Jess's and Maybeck's table before Philby held out an SD card to him.

"Go wild - kind of; go comedic, which I'm sure won't be a problem." Philby winced like he didn't mean to say that. "It's a gaming video and I don’t show my face on this series."

"Oh, you think I'm funny now."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Finn raised an eyebrow as he slid the SD card into the laptop and ran through the very familiar process of video editing. He watched through the recording after syncing and, frankly, Philby's pretty entertaining. The video recording he gave him was a character creation centric video on some wrestling game with the wackiest character settings.

It was refreshing almost to work with content that's not his own, even though it was oddly familiar but not familiar enough to ring a bell.

It didn't take him long to go through the footage since Philby had already done some work on it. Finn kept the parts he found funny and the parts that seem like inside jokes that Finn didn't understand and every time Elvis, Philby's cat apparently, interrupts the recording, before going through his personal soundbite folder and plugging some in. Finn thought it worryingly funny the number of jokes he and Philby shared and includes in their videos.

He didn't work on his own video for the rest of the shift, and it didn't even register to him that Philby didn't leave the café until Finn finished the video right before the seven in the morning breakfast rush. He returned the SD card to Philby before he left the café.

Finn tried not to think about how Philby's hand lingered as he took grabbed the SD card from out of his hand, and the softness in his face. He excused the out of character-ness on exhaustion and focused on helping his co-worker make drinks.

***

Three nights after Finn helped Philby edit a video and one night left to find someone to play the love interest for his short film, and he was starting to panic. There were a few people that he's thought of asking and of those few he only asked one person, but was busy the day of the shoot, so he's at the end of his line.

Except Maybeck's not here. There's actually some random student sitting at his usual table. So Finn feels like he's not coming today because he usually coming around 11:30 and leaves around two or three in the morning. It's midnight and there's a large crowd of seven people, some of whom are remnants of the early night students who'll leave slowly but surely in the next half hour.

"Hey Finn," Dillard said dryly from his seat at the bar counter, and at the exact moment, someone opened the door to leave.

"Yeah?"

"Mind coming over here?"

Finn raised an eyebrow as he walked around the counter, bringing Amanda and Willa's drinks to them, and they thanked him by scolding him for not finding the love interest for the short film yet, before obeying his best friend's demand. "What's up?"

"You edited for Dellete?" He asked without further ado.

Finn narrowed his eyes, unsure of how to proceed. He'll talk to Philby about it once Dillard left. "I edited for… a friend."

"A friend who's Dellete?"

"Uh, he didn't tell me who I was editing for."

"How did you edit an entire video without realizing who it is?"

"Because I wasn't really thinking about it?" Finn shrugged. "I was helping a friend who doesn't know how to take a break and that's more important than which YouTuber I was helping regardless of who I helped - I got exposure and I helped a friend."

"His audience was already exposed to you so that's not that important"

"But a lot of the power in my videos come from the editing; so anyone who wasn't convinced when he recommended my channel might be convinced now. It's a win-win situation."

The door opened and Philby entered, looking like he actually slept for once, which was enough for Finn not to say anything about the whole "Dellete" thing. "The regular, Philby?"

"White Americano actually." Philby sat next to Dillard at the counter.

"Really?"

"I slept last night; I felt like celebrating." Philby shot him a crooked grin that Finn had to tear his eyes away from as he pulled his laptop out of his bag.

"Celebrating sleeping by not sleeping? Seems counterintuitive to me."

"Eh, I'm not planning on staying long, I'm finishing up that project and then I'm going."

"Couldn't do it in your apartment?"

"A couple of my friends are taking over my apartment for some reason and I can't really concentrate in there right now."

"What kind of friends do you have that you can leave them alone and know that they wouldn't burn it down?" Finn asked.

"Are you saying you wouldn't trust me taking over your apartment?" Dillard asked.

"We share an apartment, Dillard," he said drily, even though Finn actually wouldn't trust Dillard to take over the entire apartment out of fear that Dillard's game development major friends would ruin the living room with bad soda and chips.

Philby blinked as if he just registered Finn's best friend's existence. "Oh, Dillard?"

"Hey Philby, still working on that rigging project?"

"Yeah, I haven't had time to do it, but-" Finn took that opportunity to turn around and start Philby's Americano. He didn't know Dillard and Philby were in the same class, but he wasn't going to interrogate them about it because he has a job he needs to do. He listened to Dillard's and Philby's conversation, but he didn't really understand anything they were talking about. He enjoyed playing video games, but he never got the technical side of making them, unlike Dillard who plans to make it his livelihood. Finn placed Philby's mug next to his laptop. Philby acknowledged it as he continued talking to Dillard about whatever they were talking about.

Finn understands almost nothing they said but he still listened as he cleaned up. It was one of the few conversations he's heard Philby conduct with another person where the other person could keep up with him. He sounded smart and not condescending unlike when he tries to have an intelligent conversation about something Finn doesn't know. He easily bounced from topic to topic, weaving them together to form one cohesive thought that Finn doesn't understand but had Dillard nodding his head in agreement.

Philby's eyes were bright and awake; a clear dark green, instead of overwhelmingly brown. He looked completely different from the last time Finn saw him; the wonders of getting enough sleep and not being stressed over a huge workload can do so much good to a person.

Finn jumped back into the conversation when Dillard started to get up to leave.

"I kinda want to go home and sleep now," Dillard said as he slipped off the barstool.

"Sure sleep, bet you'll be awake playing Red Dead Redemption when I get home," Finn said.

"No, I'll be asleep before you get home by like an hour."

"Okay, good night, Dill. Now go."

"Oh?" Dillard leaned onto the counter. "Don't you want your best friend around to keep you company?"

"I'm working, Dillard; you're a distraction."

"I'm very distracting, Finnegan." His childhood best friend waggled his eyebrows seductively, not even trying to prove Finn wrong.

"Yes, now go unless you're going to order something."

"Nah, see ya at home, Finny," Dillard said backing away towards the door, "Oh, and see you at class tomorrow, Philby."

Philby waved him goodbye and Dillard finally left.

"So, Philby." Finn leaned over the counter, putting his hand on his fist. Philby looked with a raised eyebrow over the lid of his laptop.

"Yes, Finn?"

"What's the name of your YouTube channel?" Finn didn't see Philby panic outwardly, but he noticed the sudden tenseness in his shoulders.

"I haven't posted it yet, I'll let you know when I do."

"Oh, but I have a source who knows that the video has been posted."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Philby was looking at the menu over Finn's shoulder.

"I think it'd be bad for me in my prospects if I don't know where all my projects, whether I profit from it or not, go."

Philby didn't say anything, mostly because there's no way to argue against that line. It's a good business practice to keep an eye on all things related to your name.

Finn had given Philby the thinnest of olive branches, but since he didn't take it, Finn leaned in, lowering his voice as he spoke, "You're a shoddy liar, Dellete."

Philby swiftly shut the lid of his laptop. His weird green-brown eyes blown wide. "Finn, please you can't tell anyone I'm Dellete."

"Let's say I do, why would that be bad?"

"Because I'm a college student who just wants to make YouTube videos and graduate?"

"And say I don’t, what do I get?" Finn was going to kick himself after this, but he was desperate at this point.

"You want something?"

"A collab of sorts."

"Didn't I just say I don't want my face on You-"

"It's not for exposure of any kind - it's for a film project, and I'll probably post it but I won't if you don't want me too, but my group needs a, um, lead love interest for it and we haven't been able to find one." Finn was floundering and he wasn't sure why. "So, would you help me?"

"At this point, I don't really have a choice but to help you. Tell me when and where and I'll be there." He seemed tense as spoke.

"Sunday, your call time is noon."

Philby deflated. "Fantastic. I'll be there; I don't have a lab"

It was Finn's turn to deflate. "Good, because Amanda and Willa will have my head if I didn't find anyone before then."

"You couldn’t have held auditions?"

"We didn't have time - or the resources for auditions."

"Understandable. So, who am I going to pretend to be in love with?"

Finn huffed out a self-deprecating laughed. "Me."

***

Finn found himself jumpy the entire morning leading towards Philby's arrival on set as they shot Finn's standalone scene before Philby's character was introduced. He wasn't nervous about going to work or doing his homework, but he was worried about the shoot particularly about Philby.

He knows Philby has experience in front of a camera, but he's always kept his face hidden in a mask. It's going to be the first time his face is going to be out on YouTube and doing scripted content. Finn doesn't even know if he can act, unlike Maybeck who Finn does know can act. Finn doesn't even know if he's into guys, and if he does wind up being a lousy actor then the entire project will be ruined. But every time he gets relatively calm, he remembers Philby's face when he told him that he's playing Finn's love interest; Finn didn't really know how to describe his expression - it was mostly blank but there was this distant look that could mean many things and most of them are probably not good.

He was asked several times by different people if he was okay, and each time he lied because he doesn't want his crew to know he's panicking over Philby for either a very good reason (that Finn doesn't know if he can act) or a very bad reason (that he doesn't know if Philby's into guys).

Philby showed up to the set an hour before his call time, which relaxed Finn a little bit. He was wearing a long sleeve shirt even though the weather is in the mid-eighties, but Finn doesn't recall ever seeing Philby in anything but long sleeves. Finn was helping his camera operator with the settings they agreed on during planning, so he didn't get to greet the man first.

"Philby, what are you doing here?" Finn heard Dillard swept in, and Finn clutched his entire body.

"A favor- for Finn," Philby stumbled over his words. He sounded nervous, which Finn never pegged him as a guy who gets nervous (aside from that one time when he was sleep-deprived), especially talking to someone he's known for a while.

"Oh?" Dillard asked, suddenly way to curious for small talk. "What kind of favor?"

"He needed an actor?"

Dillard laughed with this knowing quality to it that irked Finn to no end. "Finn's setting up, so I'll take you to get ready."

Finn didn't hear if Philby responded because his cinematographer was discussing the shot list again. Willa took over for Finn so he could go prep with Philby. He went into the broom closet they were using as a dressing room for the two actors on set, even though they didn't have costumes they needed to change into.

Dillard and Philby were talking in the tiny room and all of Philby's initial nervousness had disappeared when Finn entered the conversation. He was wearing the same green three-horizontal-striped long-sleeved shirt, but his sleeves were pushed up to his elbows and he did not know why he was starring at his plain forearm.

He made split-second eye contact with Dillard, who shot him a wide grin that he did not like, as he left without a word. "Anyway," Finn drawled as he tried to recover from whatever his best friend was trying to telepathically tell him. "We need to go over our lines before we-"

"Beef it on camera?" Philby smirked.

" _You'd_ beefed it; I've read this script forwards and backward - I know every little thing about it."

"Where do you want to start then, mister director?"

"Uh, your character's introduction, second page," Finn said, and totally didn't have a feeling of utter joy as Philby flipped through the seven-page script. Finn for once knew everything whilst Philby had to learn it all.

They skipped around the script for a bit that so Philby could get acquainted with it. He asked a fair amount of questions about the character and just about acting in general. The questions somehow excited Finn about the project again instead of being nervous about everything.

"You know, I might just try doing some scripted content on my channel at some point thanks to this," Philby commented as they took a small break.

"I'm willing to help out if you do," Finn downed half of his water bottle. "Maybe I'd start watching you."

"You don't watch my channel?" Philby questioned him defensively.

"Dillard does, and he forces me to watch your videos - he's the only reason why I knew you recommended my channel - thank you for that by the way - and that you posted the video I edited."

"And does Dillard know that I'm-" Philby looked uncomfortable, and Finn's stomach plummeted.

"No, I haven’t told him," Finn jumped to say. "But he does know that one of my regulars is Dellete; he just doesn't know which one. He'll figure it out eventually though, hopefully, he will in front of me that so he doesn’t do anything rash."

Philby relaxed somewhat; a soft smile more real than any of the polite ones Philby usually gives people. Finn couldn't help but compare him to the guy he first met in the café when the only emotion he displayed was a shit-eating smirk.

"You know I forgot to ask you if you're, you know, okay with this - with the whole love interest thing."

Philby blinked at him and for a split second, he looked confused. "Playing a love interest? Or that you're my love interest?"

"Uh, the latter one."

Philby suddenly looked down at his script and Finn felt nervous again. "I'm fine. I mean - it's okay, about the love interest thing. It doesn't bother me."

Finn wanted to argue and say that it looks like it does, but Philby already moved on to reading another part of the script.

They didn't make it that far when they were forced to pause to stay hydrated.

"We kiss," Philby said flatly. Finn ignored the drop of his heart.

"Oh. Yeah, I forgot about that."

"It-it's fine, Finn. We'll just get it over with camera; we don't have to do it now."

"Yeah, that's cool, cool," Finn bit his tongue before he said anything else responsible. "Let's just pick up at the next sce-"

"We should call it now," Philby said coolly, unlike Finn. "Five till call time."

"We should get out there now," Finn said.

"Lead the way, mister director," Philby smirked; his muddy green eyes creasing with probably too much enjoyment of calling Finn the director. Finn wasn't sure how to read into that and opted not too as he led him to get fitted with a microphone.

"Hey Finn, don't blow it," Jess said as she passed him by in the hall. Finn furrowed his brow; he figured she was warning him about ruining her sister's script with bad acting and directing. He hoped that he and Philby don't ruin it - for Amanda's grade and for the sake of his future working relationship with Amanda.

When they were running lines together in the dressing room, Finn lost most of his nervousness about Philby being a bad actor. They weren't giving it their all when they were practicing, but everything changed the moment the camera was on. Philby started off with high energy and sustained that energy leaving Finn scrambling to meet his energy.

Philby grasped Finn's forearm; his eyes soft and very, very close to his face. Finn blinked and his lips parted before Philby's eyes gleamed as he let go of Finn's arm, "You have a pixie on your shoulder."

Finn creased his brow, trying to not come off as too disappointed at the loss of contact. "Excuse me?"

"You don't see it?" His shoulders deflating, and his eyes losing their gleam.

"See what?"

Philby looked off into the distance; his eyes hard and set before speaking the one line Finn thought was impossible to make it sound not cheesy. "Everything."

"Everything?" Finn said incredulously.

Philby paused blinking before his eyes focused on Finn with the intense focus he gets when he's concentrating on a project. He grabbed Finn's wrists. "There's another world out here, Finn, one that no one else can see."

"Tell me about it."

Philby's hold on his wrists weakened, and Finn grabbed Philby's hands.

They had to reshoot the scene a few more times for all the angles and Philby didn't lose the intensity in the slightest.

"We're shooting the fourth scene," Finn told Philby as the two crewmembers started changing and moving the props around. Philby's expression was unreadable, and Finn decided he needed to talk to Willa about something.

The scene started with Philby's character, Zach, backing himself against the wall and Finn's character, Kenny, kneeling down beside him. The prior scene is going to be about the things Zach can see, and Kenny seeing it too.

"It's nice to be listened too," Philby said; his eyes downcast.

"Listened? I- I saw that. Zach," Finn grabbed Philby's hand, "you're incredible."

Philby looked at him, "I didn't make that up; it just exists!"

"I didn't say you made it up, I saw that dog and the pixies and then this happened." Finn gestured around the set where it looked like they just had a rager party.

"You actually saw it?" Finn nodded and Philby repeated the statement with a delirious laugh.

Their faces were a lot closer and Philby's eyes were bright and green. Finn's eyes dropped to Philby's lips. Philby gave him the tiniest of nods and they met in the middle - their lips brushing together. It felt nicer than Finn expected; Philby's lips were chapped and tasted like the instant black coffee they had on hand.

They just stared at each other, eyes half-lidded.

"Finn, line!" Someone shouted, and Finn and Philby both shot out of their dazes. Finn fell out of his kneel and someone laughed loudly. "Okay, let's reset."

They both stood up, even though Finn refused to look at Philby as they both handed their scripts by Dillard, whom Finn also refused to look at.

He cursed himself as the entire scene had to be set. He forgot the line; he didn't just forget to say the line - he forgot it entirely! They didn’t time have for him - the director and lead - to forget his part and just because he kissed the guy who annoyed him for nearly eight months (even though he hasn't really annoyed him lately).

They went through the scene and Finn felt himself doing a bad job, but he just need one shot of him saying the line and he can edit the good take with the rest of the scene. He should probably get another take just in case, but the two should be good for this particular scene.

Their lips brushed again, but this time Finn felt in control of himself and he said his line.

"You fall in love too easily," Philby responded.

"Maybe I do." Finn's heart pounded and he hoped Philby couldn't hear it.

The scene ended with a crash and they reset the set to film the next scene - the least romantic scene thankfully.

The scenes leading up to the final were much more torturous even though the third scene was the most intense in terms of acting. He and Philby were physically close for a lot of it, and there were a few times when Finn wanted to yank on Philby's shirt to get him at his level, but Finn kept his composure and remained professional. A few of his crew did try to edge him on, but Finn didn't let them get to him.

Although he forgot about the kiss in the final scene until Philby was holding his jaw and leaning down before firmly pressing their lips together. Finn clutched at Philby's shirt and forgot the scene again as he parted his lips.

Philby pulled away with a smirk and said his line.

Finn's brain nearly went blank, but then remembered what he needs to do next - he grabbed the back of Philby's head and pressed their mouths together again. This time hard and needy, and Finn will forever refuse to admit that he actually was being needy with that kiss.

It went a minute longer than it needed too and it only went that long because Finn forgot that he's the one who can call it a wrap.

"Wrap," Finn said breathless, only audible to him, Philby, and the sound guy, before finding his voice again. "That's a wrap!"

People cheered and Finn should've been celebrating with his crew, but he felt an instant loss of warmth as Philby's arms dropped to his side and his face, red and lips puffy, was blank. They split off; Finn going off with his crew to help with clean and Philby going off to do whatever he needed too since he agreed to act.

Finn tried not to think about the redhead for the rest of the night. He busied himself with clean up and talking shop with his crew, although a lot of those conversations led back to Philby and his performance and it was very hard not to think about him when people kept on bringing him up.

He thought he was safe from Philby when he worked his usual graveyard shift at the café right after he left the set. But the moment the stragglers from the night shift all left, he started to think - and he sorely regrets doing so because all of his thoughts went directly to Philby.

He's not sure when it happened in the grand scheme of things because he surely wasn't falling for the prick who tried to get him to make a venti ice cream espresso even though they only sell it in smalls and mediums due to some horrific incident that occurred before he started working at the café the first time he came in when Finn was working by himself. He didn't get the venti ice cream espresso, he actually swerved his entire order to get black tea and then rushed out the door after getting it.

He remembered a few other situations when Philby first started to come by on his shift. He usually left after some kind of big mess up - like that one time he dropped his mug of espresso on the ground and the mug broke. He stumbled out an apology as he paid his tab, adding a tip that covered the cost of the mug, before booking it out of the café.

He hasn't left in a while after some sort of mess up, even though vocal apologies have become rarer. A lot of his apologies now come in the form of large tips; although, now that he's thinking about it, Philby's given him a few pocketbooks with information about some of the stuff he's rambled on about to him. Finn had thought at the time that Philby was just being a prick, but he might've just wanted Finn to know more about the stuff he knows.

Finn did his best to not sigh as he gave his new regular their coffee, and he didn't even relish in their surprise as they realized Finn actually remembered their order even though it's the best part of working this godforsaken job. Finn leaned against the counter and stared at the door. He had other chores to do, but it was early in his shift, and he didn't need to do them right away.

Okay, so Philby isn't as obnoxious as he seems, and he might just not be great in social circumstances. Finn's the prick in this relationship. Fantastic, he doesn't even have that to make Philby seem unattractive.

The door opened and in came his two best friends. He cursed the part of him that hoped it was Philby.

"Hey, dude, figured we'd come here before going to sleep, Dillard said.

"Don't rub it in my face that you can go to sleep." Finn attempted to laugh. "Did you still want a drink?"

"Latte," Amanda said.

"On it." He turned around, grabbing a latte cup, and turned on the espresso machine. He placed his hand on the counter at an awkward angle as he waited for the base to pour.

Would the video shoot affect his and Philby's relationship? He doesn't want Philby to stop coming to the café because he feels uncomfortable around Finn. Finn enjoys their conversations even though they turn into half-assed arguments about something entirely different.

"Finn, you good?" Amanda asked. She and Dillard stopped talking and focused on Finn, who was not focused on anything, standing in front of the espresso machine and just staring at the base of Amanda's latte.

He debated lying, but he knew that lying to them would only result in casualties. He finally moved to put the milk to the steamer. "Not really."

He didn't see Amanda's reaction. "Can I ask why?"

"Do you need to ask why?"

There was a moment of silence from her as he finished frothing the milk. He attempted to do the standard latte art into the cup when Amanda shouted something, effectively freaking him out and shaking his hand so it just turned into a boring latte.

He turned around to see Amanda looking at him with a crazed expression.

"Excuse me?" He asked.

"Philby!" Dillard exclaimed with a mirrored expression.

"We… don't need to talk about him."

His two friends shared a look and Finn used the opportunity to put Amanda's latte in front of her.

"I mean on set today - yesterday, whatever, you two were absolutely into those kissing scenes," Dillard said.

"Also, your screen chemistry was the most natural thing I've ever seen," Amanda said. "You almost convinced me that you two were in love with each other."

If it was the day prior, Finn would've been vehemently denying that he and Philby had any form of chemistry, but looking back out on the footage, he saw it. The infatuated looks when the other wasn’t looking at him, some of which Finn didn’t even realize he was doing; the slight touches Finn knows Philby would've flinched away from in any other circumstances and would never give in return, but Finn found himself aching for them again.

He's only ever had one girlfriend in high school for one week because he thought "what the hell" and asked a girl out to the Homecoming dance in junior year. They didn't really work out well, and Finn didn't want a relationship after the called it quits. Although, Finn realized that he really liked the close proximity to others and during filming, Philby gave him an inch and Finn wanted a mile.

"Finn, you good?" Dillard repeated Amanda's first question. "You zoned out for a second."

"I was thinking," Finn said.

"About Philby?" Amanda asked. "I thought Willa and I told you to find a love interest for just your shoot; not find an actual love interest, not that it's bad or anything."

"Seriously dude, you need a life outside of YouTube, school, and work," Dillard said, "And like, Philby's cool?"

"You don't sound so sure about that," Amanda said before taking a sip of her latte.

"He's a nerd and seems to know everything, not the coolest guy if I say so myself."

"You just tried to tell me that Philby's cool," Finn said flatly.

"Uh, well, is that important to you in a relationship partner? Being cool?" Dillard strained to asked.

"I don't think I've ever said that."

"You probably did in high school."

"High school me was a deviant who thought I was cool just because I was making like five cents from posting YouTube videos. What high school me said is invalid."

Dillard laughed. "Anyway, how did this started? Because of Philby!? Really?"

"Dillard, don't insult young love!" Amanda scolded but her eyes were alight with joy.

"I don't know?" Finn ran a hand through his hair. "It kind of just started? I'm not sure when? And then he needed to repay a favor, so I got him to help us out on the shoot, but then we kissed and - it was really nice?" He probably didn't make a lick of sense, but he hoped his confusion was apparent in his unconnected words

"Why did it start?" Amanda asked.

"I'm not sure. We were just talking and… y'know it could've just been exhaustion. I don't get enough sleep and I've probably just made stuff up and I just think that I like Philby."

"You think you like Dell Philby?" Dillard asked incredulously.

"His name's Dell?" Finn asked.

"You didn't know his first name?" Amanda asked.

There was a pause as they just exchanged looks with each other. Finn knew he getting himself trapped somewhere he doesn't want to be.

"What do you see in him?" Amanda asked; her voice flat, trying not to sound like she's questioning Finn's sanity.

"Uh, well, freckles? And I can't really figure out what color his eyes are - I think they're brown, but they're kind of green, and I think that's pretty cool," Finn shrugged.

"Yes, and?"

"I-" Finn cut himself off before he could finish what he was going to say.

"I- what, Finn?" Dillard pegged him on.

"I kinda like that he's obnoxious?"

"Oh, that's why you were also gunning for Maybeck to be your love interest?" Amanda asked.

"No! Also, Maybeck has a girlfriend."

"And Philby doesn't, so he's available for your masochistic fantasies?" Dillard raised an eyebrow.

"You - shut up, because no. Not at all. You know," Finn's voice cracked. "Why don't you two leave? I need to work - I still have to, you know, clean the fridge and… bake some… cookies." He doesn't do the baking, but he just needed an excuse to get his friends to leave.

Amanda and Dillard shared one last look before they both stood up.

"Alright, Finn, we'll leave you," Amanda said.

"But do some thinking! You haven't gone on a date since high school," Dillard said.

"So, you do like Philby?" Finn asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He's not… the worst."

"You're no help." Finn shooed his best friends out of the café and then returned to behind the counter.

He didn't have any of his regulars, just some random students needing a coffee fix, plus that one new regular, and Finn was glad that none of his other friends witnessed that conversation because he doesn't know how they'd deal with the information - probably roast him at any given opportunity.

It's not his fault that every time Philby comes into the café, Finn gets distracted and forgets to do his job because he wants to talk to him even though he doesn't understand half the things he says. And when Philby's not-so-obnoxious mask drops, and Finn gets to see the quiet knowledge-seeking boy with the oddest green-brown eyes that change with the amount of sleep he's getting sitting at the bar drinking an espresso, his heart pounds.

And maybe he's even fond of the extent Philby goes to protect his privacy by wearing a physical mask whenever he's on camera and playing video games. He's fond - who says they're fond of something someone does? No one, but he is - of Philby!

His hand still holding onto the damp towel inside the frothing pitcher, Finn paused remembering that one tantalizing line that he didn't realize was so very true.

Because he's falling in love with Dell Philby.

******

Editing the footage together ended up taking longer than Finn expected, but mostly because he was re-watching the same five seconds of footage over three or five hundred times, and every time his heart threatened to beat out of his chest and warmth flooded his face.

He cursed giving Amanda the creative power to simply do whatever she wanted in her script because he wouldn't be having a crisis over Dell flipping Philby if he hadn't been forced to find a love interest for this project.

The door opened and Finn shut the lid of his laptop only to be looking at the man who's been at the forefront of his mind the past few days.

Philby sat at the bar counter without even a look at Finn before pulled out his laptop from his bag.

Finn's mouth went dry as he tried to speak and "The regular?" came out just quiet and as dry as his mouth felt.

"Yeah." Philby didn't so much as shoot him a glance; although, the espresso meant he was going to be staying for a while.

Finn turned around and placed Philby's regular mug underneath the espresso nozzle. He quickly grabbed his water bottle and drank some of it, hoping Philby would think he was just thirsty and not nervous.

Finn placed the mug next to Philby.

"Thank you," Philby said quietly. Finn panicked; they didn't usually slip into a quiet conversation this early in the night, and he needed to bring up the shoot or Dillard and Amanda was going to be pissed at him.

"I, uh, also wanted to thank you for helping me out with the video last weekend," Finn said, hoping he didn't sound too awkward.

"I owed you one, Finn," Philby said, glancing at him over his laptop, "You don't need to thank me."

"I mean, it's polite to thank someone for helping them out on short notice, regardless if it was because you were repaying a favor."

"Then maybe we should change the rule."

"If my mom knew I didn't thank you for essentially saving my ass, she'll beat my ass." Finn also knew if she knew he used such crude language, he would also be in a world of trouble.

"Can't say no to moms, I guess."

"You really can't."

They lapsed into quiet again. Finn grabbed a wet rag and slowly wiped down the bar counter.

"So, uh, when you came to set, you looked pretty nervous," Finn said, hoping Philby caught onto his drift. He wanted to know if he was right about Philby's so-called obnoxiousness is just him being bad in social situations.

"I hate small talk," Philby explained simply before sipping some of his espresso. "Can't stand it. I also don't get invited onto sets that often; my set is my bedroom and the only person on it is me."

"Oh, I feel that - the small talk thing; I'm used to there being like ten-twenty people on my set at a time, and I barely record my vlogs alone because I share a one-room apartment with Dill."

Philby scrunched his nose. "I can't imagine not having any privacy."

"Eh, we've been friends since we were like born; it's essentially what's mine is his at this point and vice versa, so I don't really care."

"Can't relate. I need privacy to thrive."

"There's not one person you trust enough not to be private around?"

The question had Philby looking down at his laptop instead of Finn. "I mean I told you about my channel."

Finn blinked, unsure of how to read into that, but it didn't stop his heart from skipping a beat.

"So, I was watching back what we shot to, you know, edit it," Finn wasn't getting anywhere like this, "and, um, I just wanted to say that you're a really good actor; like the video would've fallen apart if it wasn't for you. You should really start doing scripted content on your channel."

"Were you serious about helping me out if I did?"

"Dude, have you seen the number of gaming channels that's started to do long-form scripted content? They're hot, and you've already had like a quarter of a million subscribers, updating your content will up the count to a million. I am so down to help you; there's an insane amount of ideas for a masked YouTuber too. We could totally play with it and I don't know if you've thought about doing an unmasking, but all the possible videos you could do with that is-" Finn stopped to take a deep breath. He's never been excited about watching a Dellete video, except for the one he edited, but he's excited for the future of Philby's channel if he does start making scripted content.

Philby's eyes were glowing - nothing like the quiet guy who walked in and ordered an espresso. "Pitch me a video - for anything, masked or unmasked."

Finn spun a video nearly immediately. He played with the mask and accidentally created a long term series that led to an eventual unmasking. He pitched a pilot for a not-quite superhero series that quickly spiraled into an actual superhero series starting with Dellete as an average gaming YouTuber until a sequence of events occurred and ending with Dellete hacking into the government. Finn didn't have the exact details of what occurs afterward, but if he had more time to prepare, he could've pitched something more exact and probably better.

Philby seemed impressed with it. He was staring at Finn with his head in his hand, and occasionally throwing in a quip or an idea of his own, but seemed more intent on listening to Finn speak; it's a rarity for him to just listen, but Finn wasn't complaining.

Philby said he was going to think about it before they sank into their regularly scheduled quiet, and Finn could go about his job without worrying about Philby being uncomfortable.

And like the end of every night, Philby slid his laptop into his bag and took out his wallet. Finn took the blue rewards card Philby handed him, sliding it on his machine before Philby put his card into the customer's reader. The machine beeped and he pulled the card out before he took the rewards card from Finn.

This time though, he held onto Finn's hand and leaned over the counter to brush his lips against Finn's.

He pulled back, his eyes wide, and Philby ran.

***

A few days later, Philby still hadn't returned to the café. Dillard was sitting in Philby's seat and was talking about something. Finn was absently cleaning a mug; Philby's rewards card that he left behind in his peripheral on the counter behind the cash register. He didn't know what he was going to do; none of his co-workers had seen Philby during their shifts, and when they ask him why he's asking about him, he didn't want to explain that Philby ran out after kissing him.

He doesn't even know if the kiss was driven by a four in the morning coffee impulse, but Philby hasn't come back to even explain it, and it's been driving Finn insane.

"Are you even listening to me?" His best friend demanded.

"I was thinking."

"About Philby?"

"How'd you know?"

"Because you confessed to me and Mandy that you love-

"I said I liked him, not loved him."

"Anyway, as I was saying, you love him" Dillard gave him a pointed look, "And now your sulking, which meant either you or him did something, and Philby hasn't been back since."

"Er, kind of."

"Kind of or that's exactly what happened?"

"Philby kissed me, not the other way around."

"Oh, the big 'K' word huh?"

"Dillard, please." Finn leaned on the counter, covering his face with his arms.

"Look bud, what else am I going to do if I can't bully my best friend?"

Finn didn't respond immediately, thinking before exclaiming, "You're in the same class!"

"Huh, guess there is something I can do."

"I need to talk to him, so please tell him to come to the café tomorrow night at one after the night people leave."

"Why can't I just give you his phone number?"

"Because…" Finn didn't have a good response because he didn't realize Dillard might have Philby's phone number. "I need to talk to him face to face."

Dillard rolled his eye before dramatically putting a hand over his heart. "Anything for young love."

Finn glared at his best friend and denied ever putting salt into the next coffee he ordered.

***

When Dillard came home from class the next day, he didn't say anything but just simply nodded with the widest shit-eating grin.

Finn got ready for work that night with more energy than he usually has at eleven at night for a seven-hour shift.

***

The door to the café opened and Finn was already working on the espresso.

"Philby!" Finn cried with excitement, drawing more attention than he intended. He accidentally made eye contact with Maybeck, who rose an eyebrow. Finn tuned him out and focused on Philby.

He looked put off with the greeting but continued walking to the bar. He took off his bag and put it on the counter next to him.

"I, uh, was worried you wouldn't come back," Finn said. "The regular or a white Americano."

"White Americano, please," Philby said; his voice strained. Finn finished the drink and slid it in front of Philby in record time.

"This isn't the part where you tell me that you actually don't like and just don't want to hurt my feelings, right?" Philby asked quietly into the mug

"Your feelings?" Finn asked; his tone a weird mix of customer service and confusion that sounded more passive-aggressive than anything.

Philby flinched.

"I, uh, no, I'm not," Finn stumbled. "I just… don't know your feelings. I don't care- er, I mean I don't mind the kiss; I just don't know why you would do that."

"Why else would anyone kiss another person, other than just acting, I suppose?" Philby was still talking into his mug.

Finn blinked at him. "You like me?"

"I thought I was being somewhat obvious."

"Not really." Finn deadpanned.

"I mean I gave you a shout out on my channel - I don't do that, like ever," Philby's knuckles were turning white as he clutched the blue mug. "And I gave you that video to edit even though I knew the chances you finding out I was Dellete were insanely high, and I kept coming back after you did, even though I did think about investing in my own espresso machine and making it at home."

"I'm glad you didn't. I, uh, like you here; it's boring when you not here every once in a while."

"I was told I'm obnoxious," Philby looked at him with blank eyes.

"Did I actually say that to your face?" Finn blanked because he usually kept any rude thoughts he had in his mind.

"No, but I know when people think I am."

"I mean I don't think that anymore; you're kind of socially awkward than obnoxious."

"Try anxious, but thanks."

"I didn't really put two and two together until recently."

"I've been coming here for eight months, and you didn't realize that fact even after I had multiple almost-panic attacks in this café because I messed up something - usually around you."

"I don't think I've ever properly thought when I'm around you too."

"I should've guessed that you'd be a sappy romantic."

"At least I'm not hopeless." Finn laughed.

"You asked your best friend from birth to beg on your behalf to me to come back here that so you can confess to me, that seems pretty hopeless to me."

"I didn't ask him to beg."

"But Dillard told me, quote-unquote, Finn needs to see you; he's been driving me crazy talking about you. You need to go see him at one AM at the café because he refused just getting your phone number and calling you, like the true hopeless romantic he is."

"Dillard's a filthy liar." He has not been talking nonstop about Philby to him; he only talked about Philby a few times and only because Dillard prodded him about what he was thinking about, and it's just so happened to usually be about Philby.

"I mean it got me here, didn't it?"

"Then Dillard's not a filthy liar."

Philby laughed, putting down his mug for the first time.

"So, would you like to go out with me sometime? During the day for once."

"I think that would be nice," Philby said, "Saturday, good for you?"

"Saturday is great for me." Finn fumbled for his post-it pad and a pad before scribbling his number on it and giving it to Philby.

"Dillard was right that you could've just grabbed my number from him; we could've done this earlier," Philby said, smirking as he fully relaxed.

"If I'm a sappy romantic, then let me play into the sappiness."

"I'm planning the first date then before you get any other sappy ideas."

"As long as I get the second." Finn's heart thudded as he realized that Philby already expected a second date, and even more when he realized that he agreed to organize a date seeping in sappiness that'll rival a Lifetime movie.

"I think that'll work out just fine." Philby smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> If you see a very big mistake, like I forgot to write a part or there's a major grammatical error, let me know. I didn't feel like finding a beta reader.
> 
> EDIT 10/13/2020: I fixed some stuff, but the timeline is still pretty incomprehensible because I decided I didn't feel like fixing it! Thanks for reading, I thrive off kudos and comments, so leave them if you enjoyed reading this fic!


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